Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-11-25
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BRIGHAMS GUIDE.
THE MORMON APOSTLES HISTORIC
JOURNEY ACROSS THE ROCKIES.

JOURNEY ACROSS THE ROCKIES.
a Veteran Frontiersraan Tells How He
led the Mormon Chief Over the
Mountains and Into the Valley of Salt
Lake.
John Y. Nelson, the guide who in 1916
ptloted Brigham Young across the plains
and over the Rocky mountains TO the site
Of the present capital Of MOrm0ndOm, is
Dne Of the most interesting of the strange
hand of pioneers and savages now depict
nag the perils and pleasures of frontier
life for the dciectation Of e1lete fasteners
with Buffalo Bill
He was seated on a camp stool in one of
the score or so Of tents that line the sides
Of the broad upper corridor at Madison
Square garden, his wife, a Sioux sqUaw,
squatted at his feet industri0Csly stitching
with shreds Of buffalo tendon for thread,
a boy of II stretched on u couch OF deer
skins il one corner and a copper coSUred
lassie Of 3 sleeping peacefully on bank
Of blankets il another corner. Others of
their dusky Brood rompeG in the long pas
sdge outside with the papooses of the
Pawnee or the Sioux and came at their
white fathers bidding 10 shake hands
with the visitor Bright eyed, black
haired, blithe and, quick, the elements OF
savage and sscivilized blood seemed
strangely blended in their natures. There
had been nine children Of this marriage,
the old tr&ppcr said, of whom five were
living. the eldest. girl Of -, pursuing
her studies in a Brooklyn boarding school
To earn provision for their support and
pbl1cefiDr no has turned his hack on his
loved mountains.
u TIE FALL OF 1916.
''It was late in the fall Of 1916, think"
Nelson began rs he lit his pipe and showed
back his broad sombTcro. Il was at
Cottonwood Springs, Neb., living with an
Old Mexican half breed, who knew every
inch Of the Rockies like a book. We
were doing nothing in particular and
ready for job when Brigham Young
came along and asked my Mexican friend
and myself to be mis- guides across the
Rockies, promising US good pay. He had
fo2r companions, Mormon elders, ! think,
but | cannot remember their names.
Seven in all, we started with two emf
grant wagons enc Of them loaded with
flour, bacon, coffee and biscuit, enough
for two years supply. / don't believe
Brigham had any idea when he started
just where he was going and when he
would get back II was a sort Of pros
pectinG trip. He and the elders called
each other brother, and the old man sas
a good natured, jolly sort of fellow. He
talked a good deal Of religious lingo, but ne
was not the Sunday school, piOus Jonah
kind; would say damn it just the same as
/ would, and played a good hand at ouchre.
i was quite young fellow III those days,
and as the old Mexican didn't speak much
English, Brigham talked good deal with
me and tried to convert me to MoImOnism.
He was about 10, well set up and with
q big. strong head and neck. | didn't
take muca stock in his arguments defend
iag polyglmy which 10 Smith had recently
introduced as a revelation among the
saints. But Brigham gave me the idea
OF Il man who WAS pretty frm in his
opinion and actually believed what he
preached.
We dIdI I hurry ourselves much, max
ing only abou4 twenty miles day with
the wagons, pitching our tents for three
Or four days ut I time when we got into q
likely region where game was plenty and
exploring the country FOR miles around. |
i don't think we met white man all the
way across. There were lots of Indians,
but they didn't trouble us, just coming
into camp 10 trade oil fresh meat or skins
for bacon and coffee. Toward Christmas
we struck Hams fork, III western Ne
brasi1a, after making a journey Of nearly
1000 miles. There we were showed up
until the spring
Snow FORTY FEET DEEP.
"That was a particularly hard winter,
and the snow was forty feet deep il places
where it had driftad over the canyon. Bat !
We didn't suffer; provisions were plenty, !
there was lots of game, and when we
couldn't get water We got snow and melt !
ell il. Oar camp at Hams fork was
pitched in n sheltered valley, and we got
all The elk, antelope and bear we could
shoot.
Late in the spring when the snow had
melted, we struck camp and started
straight up the mountain aCout forty
miles. Right Up on the top Of the noun
tainlge found large lake fed by living
spring chuck full OF trout that beat any
thing in tire world. The smallest Of them
was absut Two feet long and weighed nye
or six pounds, and the IavOr'- The /
trapper smacked his lips as the recoIcc- /
ton Of the gustat0ry qualification of forty I,
years before arose in his mind.
brigham was all the ti.:.e spying out /
inc LAY OF me tllll., ssl4 4ti2-ACi
the top OF the mountain over the level /
stretch Of desert nearly fifty miles away, /
lie said: The promised land Is in sight. |
We made our way down the mountain !
without any accident worth mentioning .
and when we struck the water now known .
rs salt Lake Brigham swallowed mouth /
Jul and named ii the Great salt Lake .
Then VIC struck ont about six miles TO the /,
northwest and Brigham Young stopped /
suddenly in The midst Of the valley and /
shouted: This is the spot; this Is the place 1
revealed 10 me by the Great Spirit in q
dream long ago. Here we win build the .
New Jerusalem"
1--WE stayed in ;he neiEhborhood about /
SIX weeks Brigham staked cut the place /
50 THAI we could find il again easily AID |
made a sort Of map ofit Then we started I.
back to Cottonwood Springs, which we
reached late in the summer. Brigham .
and his friends went cn TO Nauvoo, Ills,
ana | went OF on deer hunt with my
Indian friends. Next year Brigham tCCk
large party Of AICrmo0s over, and salt
Lake City was 0,;ilT On the very spot 70
which, guided HIM. New York World
a2leryicw.
An Erroneous Assumption.
4 member Of the London Astronomical !